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Help 1st time PC builder

So, I've finally got some money saved up for a new PC, and I thought I'd seek advice. I plan on building it myself, to save money, to learn more about PCs and know my machine inside & out, so I can set it up to be upgradeable, and just because it seems like (slightly scary) fun!

It's going to be meant for gaming, and I've got about $800 (though if I can spend less without too much loss of capability, that's cool, too). I'm just going to use my old 19" 1440x900 monitor for now, I'll get a new one at a later date, so that's money saved right there.

I want something that'll play today's games at respectable settings, with room to improve down the road.

power supply: I was thinking 750w, but maybe 650 is enough? Regardless, there's an astonishing difference in price for PSUs even of the same wattage from the same manufacturer so idk.

GPU: GTX 560ti. Just a matter of picking which one. How much of a difference does 2GB memory make compared to 1GB? There's only like a $20 difference. Anyone have a specific card recommendation?

RAM: 8GB. This stuff seems cheap enough, though I'm not sure how much difference there is between 1600 and 1333

Hard Drive: I'll find something. I figure 500GB is fine for the moment. These seem more expensive than the last time I checked, though...

Optical drive: I'll likely just pull my old one out of my crap PC. It ought to work, right?

Case: Here I'm lost. I know i need an ATX, but beyond that... I want something inexpensive, but that has room for expansion. Never having built a comp before, I feel like this is one choice I could really screw up on my own.

Tell me if I'm missing anything. Hmm, with just a quick eyeball guesstimate, I appear to be over budget. How'd that happen? I was sure the last time I mucked about on Newegg I came in below that. :/

Looks ok. You will be fine with 4GB instead of 8GB of RAM, it's an easy upgrade once you get more cash. 650w will likely be fine if you get a decent brand. Some people rant on about getting the best possible 1000w PSU but they're full of it. I generally buy corsair PSUs, I'm yet to be disappointed.

Your optical drive will NOT work since it's old and will (probably) have one of these coming out of it when your mobo needs one of these (IDE vs SATA).

Get any ATX case you like. It doesn't really matter, pick one you think is pretty. Cheap generally just means heavier and uglier. You only need to worry about size and 'expandability' if you're planning on having a 6-drive RAID. Make sure you're getting one without an included PSU though if you're getting that separate.

GPU: GTX 560ti. Just a matter of picking which one. How much of a difference does 2GB memory make compared to 1GB? There's only like a $20 difference. Anyone have a specific card recommendation?

You won't need the 2GB at your current resolution, but at eg. 1920*1200 it could come in handy; you can't really go wrong with either a 560Ti or a Radeon 6950, although you could wait to see what the prices are on the 7950 (should be available next week I believe)

RAM: 8GB. This stuff seems cheap enough, though I'm not sure how much difference there is between 1600 and 1333

I'm continually on the brink of building my own PC but am shit scared of breaking something and not knowing what (especially installing and configuring the motherboard). Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

And the 650w is $95. I'm in the US, so the prices to some of the things you linked are different.

Thanks for that pcpartpicker site. I've put in what you did on the American version and it comes up similar (after putting in Windows and a hard drive) to where I'm at. That is to say, mid 900s. I guess I'll just have to resign myself to spending somewhat more than I anticipated, which also means waiting a couple more weeks.

I know you mentioned OC'ing in your original post, but I didn't catch a proper heatsink/fan combo in your list of goodies. Might I recommend the Cooler Master Hyper-212+. It's a little large, but does an excellent job of cooling and is suprisingly quiet. I've taken my i5-2500k to 4GHz very easily with this thing. I'm at work at the moment, but I can get you some specific numbers later on when I get home.

Ah, you linked to newegg.ca in your original post, so I went from there :)

Did I? Huh, weird!

Originally Posted by SMiD

I know you mentioned OC'ing in your original post, but I didn't catch a proper heatsink/fan combo in your list of goodies. Might I recommend the Cooler Master Hyper-212+. It's a little large, but does an excellent job of cooling and is suprisingly quiet. I've taken my i5-2500k to 4GHz very easily with this thing. I'm at work at the moment, but I can get you some specific numbers later on when I get home.

Yeah, I planned on getting one of those. I'm going to hold off on that, though. I'm breaking the bank as is. (Stupid question, you can replace the stock fan after it's installed, right?) I figure I'll get the thing up and running, maybe bump up the CPU a bit (I hear it's easier nowadays) and see how things go. A month or two from then, assuming I've not blown anything up, I'll look into OCing.

Absolutely. You'll need to make sure you clear the old paste away from the CPU first, but it's a fairly simple procedure. Cooler Master also provides fairly comprehensive installation instructions, so you'll have no issues there.

Really? I have a CM Hyper-212 EVO, which I like just fine, but I thought the instructions were kind of useless. The ones I got required a magnifying glass and a basic working knowledge of hieroglyphics.

Check out the NZXT H2. Great case, really easy to work with too. I have it in black (should have gotten the white one though):

Really? I have a CM Hyper-212 EVO, which I like just fine, but I thought the instructions were kind of useless. The ones I got required a magnifying glass and a basic working knowledge of hieroglyphics.

Check out the NZXT H2. Great case, really easy to work with too. I have it in black (should have gotten the white one though):

That's actually a really cool case. I don't get the big door in the front. Doesn't it block the air intake for the front fans? Regardless, it's a bit too pricey. My budget's a lot tighter than I'd thought (when did hard drives get so expensive?), so if the case is more than, say $60, and isn't also paart of a combo with something else I need to reduce my cost further, I can't consider it. :(

I wish there were videos for every item. They're much more useful than a picture and list of specs.

I don't get the big door in the front. Doesn't it block the air intake for the front fans?

Aw, bummer, because you would really dig the door if you saw one in person. It's magnetic and fairly heavy and shuts with a really satisfying "THUNK". There are two big intake fans behind it, and a big slit for air to get in where you pull the door open. With that CPU cooler, an extra case fan, and tidy cables, the CPU/GPU temps have been pretty astonishing so far.

I finally had everything just how I wanted it, got my tax returns deposited, ready to go. I had everything in my newegg cart (barring the processor, which I ordered for $50 cheaper somewhere else). I was just going over everything one last time to be extra certain I didn't fuck up.

So, I pull out my credit card and load back up the shopping cart page.... HALF the stuff was gone. All the combo deals expired right as I got ready to pay. It's now like $80 more for the exact same items. I hate everything right now. >:(

How long are you going to be using your 19" monitor? If you won't be upgrading to a 1080p within a year or two, then you could save quite a bit of money on your video card at your current resolution with something like the 6850.

You also don't need 750w PSU, any of these will do (compatible with the 6850):